Even If: When God Says NoParaugs

Day 2: Decide Ahead of Time

On the first day of this devotional, we worked on settling the fact that God is good despite whatever our circumstances say. Today, we are going to decide to remain faithful to God in bad conditions.

This is a difficult step.

It is very tempting to cave to the pressures we feel when it seems like nothing is going right as we follow the Lord. Sometimes our perspective gets off, and we believe that if we do what’s right everything will go smoothly and conveniently. Often times doing what’s right comes with delayed benefits while doing what is wrong comes with instant gratification.

When our world is crashing in and we just want relief from the pain, choosing to go our own way is very attractive. So it is very important for us to decide ahead of time that we will remain loyal to God no matter what comes our way.

A great example comes from the trial of three Hebrew young men in exile in Babylon. They faced being burned alive just for refusing to worship the king’s statue so they could remain faithful to God. Pay special attention to what they say in verse 18.

They let the king of Babylon know that God can save them from him. They expand by saying that even if God doesn’t they still will not serve his gods or worship his idol. How could they do such a powerful thing in the face of death if they hadn’t already made up their minds on the matter beforehand?

This is something we all need to examine ourselves on. What would we do if we were in the same situation? What choices do we make now when we feel afraid or threatened? Make the decision to stick with God no matter what.